Contents
The short answer
A takeaway must tell you which of the 14 main allergens are in its food when you ask, including for phone and online orders. Tell them about your allergy each time. If staff cannot say for sure, do not order it. Check the hygiene rating on the Food Standards Agency website.
What allergen information must a takeaway give?
The law names 14 allergens. A food business must tell you if any of them is an ingredient in the food it sells. They are celery, cereals that contain gluten, crustaceans such as prawns, eggs, fish, lupin, milk, molluscs such as mussels, mustard, peanuts, sesame, soybeans, sulphur dioxide and sulphites above a set level, and tree nuts.
For food that is made to order, a takeaway can tell you on the menu, on a board, on a ticket, or by speaking to you. If the information is given by speaking, there should be a notice telling you to ask. The business does not have to give you the full recipe. It does have to tell you which of the 14 allergens are in the dish.
Does this apply to phone and online orders?
Yes. The same duty applies when you order by phone, on a website or through an app. The allergen information must be available to you at two points: before you buy, and when the food is delivered.
Delivery apps show what the restaurant tells them. The restaurant is still responsible for being right. If you have an allergy, a listing on an app is not enough on its own.
How do I ask about allergies safely?
Tell the takeaway about your allergy every time you order, even if you are a regular. Recipes and suppliers change, so a dish that was safe last month may not be safe now.
- Say which allergen you need to avoid, in plain words.
- Ask which of the 14 allergens are in the exact dish you want.
- Ask about cross-contact, such as shared fryers, shared utensils and shared oil.
- Ask staff to check with the cook and not to guess.
- If nobody can tell you for sure, order something else or go elsewhere.
Ask, do not assume
Staff should never guess an allergen answer. If you do not get a clear, confident answer, that is your answer. Choose a different dish or a different takeaway.
What about 'may contain' and cross-contact?
The list of 14 covers what is used as an ingredient. It does not cover the chance that a trace gets in by accident. A takeaway is not required by this rule to tell you about that, so you need to ask.
This matters most with shared fryers. Chips, fish and nuggets may all go in the same oil. Ask before you order.
Does a takeaway have to make allergen-free food?
No. A business must tell you what is in its food. It does not have to make a meal without a given allergen just because you ask. Some will, and some will say they cannot do it safely. Both answers are fine, and the safe answer is the one to trust.
How do I check a takeaway's hygiene rating?
Use the Food Standards Agency ratings website at ratings.food.gov.uk for England, Wales and Northern Ireland. Search by name and town. Scotland uses a different scheme, with Pass or Improvement Required, published by Food Standards Scotland.
The rating covers how food is handled, the building and how safety is managed. It does not cover taste or value, and it is a snapshot of one visit. Always look at the date of the inspection.
Does every takeaway have to be registered?
Yes. Any business that sells food must register with its local council at least 28 days before it starts trading, and the council cannot refuse. That puts the business on the council's inspection list.
A kitchen that is not registered, including a home kitchen selling through an app, sits outside that system and will have no hygiene rating to check.
What should I do if food makes me ill?
Report it to the food safety team at the council for the area where the takeaway is. Do not just tell the app. Councils can inspect a business after a complaint, and an app cannot.
Keep any packaging, write down what you ate and when the symptoms began, and see a doctor if they are severe or last a long time. If you were given the wrong allergen information, say so clearly, because that is a more serious matter and councils can take action over it.
For an allergic reaction with swelling or trouble breathing, call 999. Do not wait.
Frequently asked questions
- Does a delivery app check hygiene ratings?
- Big apps often show the rating, but the listing is not a substitute for the official record. The Food Standards Agency site shows the inspection date and the council that did it.
- Can a takeaway refuse to tell me the ingredients?
- It has to tell you which of the 14 allergens are in a dish. It does not have to give you the full recipe, but it cannot refuse to say whether an allergen is there.
- What does a hygiene rating of 0 mean?
- Urgent improvement is necessary. It does not mean the business is closed, because closing is a separate step. A 1 means major improvement is necessary. Both are worth taking seriously.
- Is a takeaway allowed to give allergen information out loud only?
- For food made to order, yes, if a notice tells customers how to ask. Written information alongside a conversation is the Food Standards Agency's preferred approach.
- Who do I report a takeaway to?
- Your local council's food safety team, in the area where the takeaway is. They can inspect the business and take action.
- Should I trust a takeaway with a good rating on allergies?
- A rating is about hygiene. It does not tell you how a business handles allergens, so always ask about your allergy, whatever the score.
About this guide
Written and maintained by the LocalListed editorial team. It describes UK regulation and consumer protections in general terms and is not legal, financial or professional advice. Rules differ between England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland, and change over time: always check the position with the named regulator before relying on it.
